“Urchiv ships picking up speed,” Wutroow announced. “But unless they’ve got a lot more in reserve, there’s no way they can catch us. Ah—they’ve figured that out. Dropping back.”

“Any sign of intercept craft from the surface or behind the disk?” Ar’alani asked.

“Nothing detectable,” Wutroow said. “At this point—”

She broke off as the Vigilant gave a sudden lurch. “Entering atmosphere, Admiral,” Octrimo said. “Cutting deeper; hull temperature starting to rise. No danger yet.”

But there would be, Thalias knew. Her physics classes were only a vague memory, but she remembered enough to know there were good reasons why ships didn’t move through planetary atmospheres at this speed.

“What about the Nikardun?” Ar’alani asked.

“A little unclear—the turbulence is interfering with the sensors,” Wutroow said. “But I think he’s falling behind, too.”

The buffeting was growing stronger. Thalias knew she should find a seat and strap in, but she could sense Che’ri’s fear and didn’t want to abandon the girl. She could almost hear the Vigilant groaning under the unfamiliar stresses and heat and pressure.

Imagination, of course. But still she could hear the ship’s agony…

“Last course change,” Ar’alani said abruptly into the muted cacophony. “Sky-walker, get ready.”

“I am,” Che’ri said, her voice trembling.

“Course change: Three, two, one.”

Octrimo keyed his board, and the Vigilant angled away from the planet one final time. The battering began to lessen.

And suddenly the haziness around the stars cleared, and the groaning faded away. They were again in the welcome vacuum of space, driving hard along the vector Che’ri had pointed them to. The seconds ticked by, the Vigilant driving ever harder toward the distant stars.

“Clear for hyperspace,” Octrimo announced.

“Sky-walker?” Ar’alani called.

“Ready,” Che’ri called back. “How far do you want to go?”

“As far as you can take us without stressing yourself,” Ar’alani said. “Ready…go.”

The stars flared and then faded into the hyperspace swirl, and they were once again safe.

“You can let go now,” Thrawn said.

Thalias blinked, only then realizing that somewhere along the line her grip on Che’ri’s shoulders had transferred into a grip on the back of the girl’s chair. With an effort, she unlocked her fingers and took a step back. “We did it,” she said.

“We did,” Thrawn agreed. “We of the fleet like to think of ourselves as heroes. Often, though, the true heroes are those who design and build the warships we take into battle.”

“There wasn’t supposed to be any battle,” Ilparg growled. With the danger passed, he was rapidly returning to his normal pomposity. “What was the meaning of all that?”

“The Nikardun are attacking other worlds—” Thrawn began.